Planters Snack Mix – Bold, Original, and Sweet & Salty

Hello hello! The weather here in Northern California has been rainy and windy and has done nothing more than make me want to stay in bed all day. When I woke up this morning and saw a text from my boss telling me not to come in today, I did what any girl would do in my situation. I curled back up in bed and cat napped my day away watching Private Practice on Netflix.

I’ve had this Planters Snack Mix in my stash for quite some time, but it kept getting bumped by various holiday treats. Please enjoy this 3 part rainy day review.

I started with the Bold flavor. The mix consists of wheat squares, almonds, peanuts, sesame sticks, small bread cracker crouton things (scientific term), pretzels, and Corn Nuts? Sadly because Planters is late to the snack mix game, I couldn’t help but subconsciously compare these to Chex Mix. The flavor was mostly smoky, slightly spicy, and salty. I could not put my finger on exactly what flavors make up this mix but it wasn’t too bad. I however remember how much I do not like Corn Nuts. I have been spoiled by Blue Diamond and Emerald by their giant almonds as the ones in this mix were barely bigger than their peanut counterpart.

Next up was the Original flavor. What is Original flavor anyways? Upon first bite, it didn’t taste like the mix had any seasoning at all. After giving the bag a little shake, I noticed that it had a little salt to it but not much more. This mix also ditched the Corn Nuts. I wish that there was a more equal mix of ingredients, as this mix was mostly comprised of those little mini toast deals (also a scientific term). It was okay, if you only wanted a handful, past that its rather bland.

Lastly, the Sweet & Salty mix. This was made up of the same components as the Original mix. In fact, I think they just took the Original mix and dumped a huge helping of sugar and a little bit of cinnamon on it. Sadly the salty part of this duo has gone into hiding. I also did not like the sesame sticks in this mix coated with the sugar mixture. Not tasty at all.

Texture: –

Bold: 3/5 – Because all of the elements in this mix are crunchy, it makes for a nice snacking experience. The flavoring does not add anything to the texture.

Original: 3/5 – (see above)

Sweet & Salty: 3/5 – (see above)

Smell: –

Bold: 3/5 – You can definitely smell the slight spiciness when you open the bag.

Original: 1/5 – The bag was practically devoid of any sort of smell, it was weird.

Sweet & Salty: 3/5 – There was a hint of sweetness to the bag when opened.

Appearance: –

Bold: 3/5 – The Bold offering was covered in little black specks of flavoring, which would almost lead you to believe that it is peppery, which it is not.

Original: 2/5 – Nothing special about the Original flavor, all of the elements looked like they were in their raw form.

Sweet & Salty: 3/5 – On the Sweet & Salty mix, you could see the white specks covering the majority of the mix, which one can only assume was some sort of sugar type material. I hope.

Taste:–

Bold: 2/5 – I did not overly enjoy the flavor chosen for the Bold mixture. The only way I could describe it would be that it kind of tastes like how BO smells. Yep, that good.

Original: 2.5/5 – The Original mix mostly tasted like you took all of the ingredients and poured them together, sprinkled a little salt and called it a day. It is not bad, but it is not spectacular. If you are looking for something with flavor, go for a bag of regular Chex Mix instead.

Sweet & Salty: 2.5/5 – Despite my love for overly sweet things, this mix does it in all the wrong ways. I especially did not care for the sesame sticks (in any of the mixes but in this one mostly) as they just tasted like greasy sweet… things. This mix may be somewhat redeemable if you combined it with the Original flavor.

If I had to rate these in order of enjoyment, 1. Original 2. Sweet & Salty 3. Bold

1 Comment

My local store didn’t have the chex mix I wanted, and these sounded like they would fill the sweet and salty crunch I was wanting. Unfortunately the flavors just don’t taste right to me. Definitely agree the sesame sticks are misplaced, and it’d be better off with some salty caramel drizzles instead of the cinnamon.